US Army Armored Half Track M13

Kit Manufacturer: Nitto

Major Material: Plastic

Scale: 1/35

Rarity: Medium (can occasionally be found on eBay)

Model Specifications:

This is the original motorized model kit made by Nitto in the 1970s. It should not be confused with the later copy made by the Bluetank company, which has the same box art but the kit has been reproduced into a statically display model. This kit contains the metal gear box equipped with plastic gears and the metal hardware and electric wires for the forward-stop-backward switch and battery box. But the required FA13 motor was not included.

Historical Notes:

Although not specified on the box or anywhere in the instruction sheets, this model appears to be the M13 (and subversion M14), which were first really successful AA adaptation of the Half Track M3, using the maxon M33 twin mount, operating M2HB cal.50 heavy machine guns, with very good results against low-flying aircrafts. Side panels were foldable to allow a better arc of fire, and of course all the internal compartment was refurbished. They were accepted in January 1943 and 1103 Half-tracks were built as M13, and later, 628 converted into quad-mount M16 on these stocks. - by Tanks Encyclopedia